TheImprovement ofTropical and Subtropical Rangelands

198 IMPROVEMENT OF TROP/GAL AND SUBTROP/GAL RANGELANDS
mesquites (India, Chile, Mexico), with olive trees (the Mediterranean
Basin), and with acacias (East and West Africa).
Plantations of fodder shrubs or fodder trees may be integrated
either into pastoral systems or into farming systems. They may
be used as browse either for seasonal, deferred grazing or as buffer
fodder reserves for periods of drought (Le Houerou, 1980). They
may be directly browsed, or cut arid carried to livestock. Fruits,
such as the pods of Actlcitl or Pro,opU, may be collected, stored and
fed, or sold as concentrated feed. Some of these plantations may
be intensively managed and fertilized for high productivity, such as
Leuctlelltl leucocepl&tutl, which can produce as much as 5,000-10,000
kg ofdry matter per ha per year of high-protein feed. Opunhtl ficu.
indictl plantations in Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and North Africa
may produce 5,000-15,000 kg of dry matter per ha per year under
arid and semiarid conditions. Atnple:r: nummultlntl plantations may
produce 2,000-5,000 kg of protein-rich dry fodder per ha per year in
the arid zones of North Africa, the Near East, and South Africa with
or without complementary irrigation, while 10,000 kg of dry matter
per ha per year under brackish water irrigation have been obtained
in Israel (Pasternak et aI., 1979j I.e Houerou, 1986). Two-yearold
Atriple:r: ctlne,cen, plantations in southern California produced
9,189 kg per ha (Goodin and McKell, 1971). Plantations of tree
lucerne (O,t"'u proli/eru) and tree medic (Medictlgo tlr60retl) are
also capable of hiBb production of quality browse under relatively
intense management systems.
Puelwood Productlcm
Fuelwood is in short supply in many countries, particularly
around towns and cities. One solution to the fuelwood problem
is to plant woodlots of fast-growing species of genera such as Eu·
ctllyptu, Pinu, .Populu, Otlfttlnntl, Aztldirtlclattl, OtllnG, Alhizitl,
and Gmelintl. Such woodlots may prove to be excellent investments
when the site and species are appropriately chosen (National Research
Council, 1980).
However, particular care should be taken in establishing woodlots
of fast-growing trees, as such species are frequently heavy consumers
of soil nutrients, and the soils of woodlots can become seriously
depleted with the 10118 ofthe nutrients contained in the exported
fuelwood. Further, in many species of fast-growing trees, the greater
exposed juvenile growth increases their 8USCeptiblity to predators,